Interrogation network patches for active monitoring of structural health conditions

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for monitoring structural health conditions of structures. The apparatus includes a piezoelectric device that has a bottom cover plate, piezoelectric rings concentrically disposed with respect to an axis and positioned on the bottom cover plate, and concentric filler rings made from an electrically insulating material. Each of the piezoelectric rings is interposed between two adjacent filler rings. The piezoelectric device also includes electrical connection means for communicating electrical signals to the piezoelectric rings and a top cover plate that is positioned over the piezoelectric rings and filler rings. The electrical connection means are operative to transmit electrical signals that cause one or more of the piezoelectric rings to generate waves or transmit electrical signals developed by one or more of the piezoelectric rings in response to the waves.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICTIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No.10/942,366, filed on Sep. 16, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,117,742 whichclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Applications No. 60/505,120,filed on Sep. 22, 2003.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to diagnostics of structures, and moreparticularly to diagnostic network patch (DNP) systems for monitoringstructural health conditions.

As all structures in service require appropriate inspection andmaintenance, they should be monitored for their integrity and healthcondition to prolong their life or to prevent catastrophic failure.Apparently, the structural health monitoring has become an importanttopic in recent years. Numerous methods have been employed to identifyfault or damage of structures, where these methods may includeconventional visual inspection and non-destructive techniques, such asultrasonic and eddy current scanning, acoustic emission and X-rayinspection. These conventional methods require at least temporaryremoval of structures from service for inspection. Although still usedfor inspection of isolated locations, they are time-consuming andexpensive.

With the advance of sensor technologies, new diagnostic techniques forin-situ structural integrity monitoring have been in significantprogress. Typically, these new techniques utilize sensory systems ofappropriate sensors and actuators built in host structures. However,these approaches have drawbacks and may not provide effective on-linemethods to implement a reliable sensory network system and/or accuratemonitoring methods that can diagnose, classify and forecast structuralcondition with the minimum intervention of human operators. For example,U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,729, issued to Wu et al., discloses a method thatdetects the changes of damping characteristics of vibrational waves in alaminated composite structure to locate delaminated regions in thestructure. Piezoceramic devices are applied as actuators to generate thevibrational waves and fiber optic cables with different gratinglocations are used as sensors to catch the wave signals. A drawback ofthis system is that it cannot accommodate a large number of actuatorarrays and, as a consequence, each of actuators and sensors must beplaced individually. Since the damage detection is based on the changesof vibrational waves traveling along the line-of-sight paths between theactuators and sensors, this method fails to detect the damage locatedout of the paths and/or around the boundary of the structure.

Another approach for damage detection can be found in U.S. Pat. No.5,184,516, issued to Blazic et al., which discloses a self-containedconformal circuit for structural health monitoring and assessment. Thisconformal circuit consists of a series of stacked layers and traces ofstrain sensors, where each sensor measures strain changes at itscorresponding location to identify the defect of a conformal structure.The conformal circuit is a passive system, i.e., it does not have anyactuator for generating signals. A similar passive sensory networksystem can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,399,939, issued to Mannur, J. etal. In Mannur '939 patent, a piezoceramic-fiber sensory system isdisclosed having planner fibers embedded in a composite structure. Adrawback of these passive methods is that they cannot monitor internaldelamination and damages between the sensors. Moreover, these methodscan detect the conditions of their host structures only in the localareas where the self-contained circuit and the piezoceramic-fiber areaffixed.

One method for detecting damages in a structure is taught by U.S. Pat.No. 6,370,964 (Chang et al.). Chang et al. discloses a sensory networklayer, called Stanford Multi-Actuator-Receiver Transduction (SMART)Layer. The SMART Layer® includes piezoceramic sensors/actuatorsequidistantly placed and cured with flexible dielectric filmssandwiching the piezoceramic sensors/actuators (or, shortly,piezoceramics). The actuators generate acoustic waves and sensorsreceive/transform the acoustic waves into electric signals. To connectthe piezoceramics to an electronic box, metallic clad wires are etchedusing the conventional flexible circuitry technique and laminatedbetween the substrates. As a consequence, a considerable amount of theflexible substrate area is needed to cover the clad wire regions. Inaddition, the SMART Layer® needs to be cured with its host structuremade of laminated composite layers. Due to the internal stress caused bya high temperature cycle during the curing process, the piezoceramics inthe SMART Layer® can be micro-fractured. Also, the substrate of theSMART Layer® can be easily separated from the host structure. Moreover,it is very difficult to insert or attach the SMART Layer® to its hoststructure having a curved section and, as a consequence, a compressiveload applied to the curved section can easily fold the clad wires.Fractured piezoceramics and the folded wires may be susceptible toelectromagnetic interference noise and provide misleading electricalsignals. In harsh environments, such as thermal stress, field shock andvibration, the SMART Layer® may not be a robust and unreliable tool formonitoring structural health. Furthermore, the replacement of damagedand/or defective actuators/sensors may be costly as the host structureneeds to be dismantled.

Another method for detecting damages in a structure is taught by U.S.Pat. No. 6,396,262 (Light et al.). Light et al. discloses amagnetostrictive sensor for inspecting structural damages, where thesensor includes a ferromagnetic strip and a coil closely located to thestrip. The major drawback of this system is that the system cannot bedesigned to accommodate an array of sensors and, consequently, cannotdetect internal damages located between sensors.

Thus, there is a need for an efficient, accurate, and reliable systemthat can be readily integrated into existing and/or new structures andprovide an on-line methodology to diagnose, classify and forecaststructural condition with the minimum intervention of human operators.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

A diagnostic network patch (DNP) system that is attached to a hoststructure for monitoring the health conditions thereof is provided. TheDNP system contains actuators/sensors and is capable of detecting andmonitoring flaws/damages of the host structure. Like the nerve system ofhuman body, the DNP system forms an internal wave-ray communicationnetwork in the host structure by establishing signal paths betweenactuators and sensors, wherein acoustic waves or impulses (such as, Lambwaves) travel through the signal paths.

According to one embodiment, a device for monitoring structural healthconditions of an object includes a piezoelectric device that has abottom cover plate, piezoelectric rings concentrically disposed withrespect to an axis and positioned on the bottom cover plate, andconcentric filler rings made from an electrically insulating material.Each of the piezoelectric rings is interposed between two adjacentfiller rings. The piezoelectric device also includes electricalconnection means for communicating electrical signals to thepiezoelectric rings and a top cover plate that is positioned over thepiezoelectric rings and filler rings. The bottom and top cover platesare adapted to hold the piezoelectric rings and filler rings in place.The electrical connection means are operative to transmit electricalsignals that cause one or more of the piezoelectric rings to generatewaves or transmit electrical signals developed by one or more of thepiezoelectric rings in response to the waves.

According to another embodiment, a device for monitoring structuralhealth conditions of an object includes a piezoelectric device, whereinthe piezoelectric device includes filler rings concentrically disposedwith respect to an axis and formed from an electrically insulatingmaterial and piezoelectric rings. Each piezoelectric ring isconcentrically interposed between two adjacent filler rings and has flattop and bottom surfaces that are perpendicular to the axis and coveredwith top and bottom conductive flakes, respectively. The piezoelectricdevice also include: top conductive rings concentrically disposed withrespect to the axis, each top conductive ring having a flat bottomsurface in contact with one of the top conductive flakes and beingelectrically insulated from the other top conductive rings; one or moretop covering layers and top base layers alternatively stacked on thefiller rings and configured to cover at least one of top conductiverings; top electrical connection means for communicating electricsignals to the top conductive rings; bottom conductive ringsconcentrically disposed with respect to the axis, each bottom conductivering having a flat top surface in contact with one of the bottomconductive flakes and being electrically insulated from the other bottomconductive rings; one or more bottom covering layers and bottom baselayers alternatively stacked beneath the filler rings and configured tocover at least one of the bottom conductive rings; and bottom electricalconnection means for communicating electric signals to the bottomconductive rings. The top and bottom electrical connection means areoperative to transmit electrical signals that cause one or more of thepiezoelectric rings to generate the waves or transmit electrical signalsdeveloped by one or more of the piezoelectric rings in response to thewaves.

These and other advantages and features of the invention will becomeapparent to those persons skilled in the art upon reading the details ofthe invention as more fully described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a schematic top cut-away view of a pickup unit of a patchsensor in accordance with one embodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 1B is a schematic side cross-sectional view of the patch sensorshown in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 1C is a schematic top view of a typical piezoelectric device.

FIG. 1D is a schematic side cross-sectional view of the typicalpiezoelectric device in FIG. 1C.

FIG. 1E is a schematic top cut-away view of a patch sensor in accordancewith another embodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 1F is a schematic side cross-sectional view of the patch sensorshown in FIG. 1E.

FIG. 1G is a schematic cross-sectional view of a composite laminateincluding the patch sensor of FIG. 1E.

FIG. 1H is a schematic side cross-sectional view of an alternativeembodiment of the patch sensor of FIG. 1E.

FIG. 2A is a schematic top cut-away view of a pickup unit of a hybridpatch sensor in accordance with one embodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 2B is a schematic side cross-sectional view of the hybrid patchsensor shown in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2C is a schematic top cut-away view of a hybrid patch sensor inaccordance with another embodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 2D is a schematic side cross-sectional view of the hybrid patchsensor shown in FIG. 2C.

FIG. 3A is a schematic top cut-away view of a pickup unit of an opticalfiber patch sensor in accordance with one embodiment of the presentteachings.

FIG. 3B is a schematic side cross-sectional view of the optical fiberpatch sensor shown in FIG. 3A.

FIG. 3C is a schematic top cut-away view of the optical fiber coilcontained in the optical fiber patch sensor of FIG. 3A.

FIG. 3D is a schematic top cut-away view of an alternative embodiment ofthe optical fiber coil shown in FIG. 3C.

FIGS. 3E-F are schematic top cut-away views of alternative embodimentsof the optical fiber coil of FIG. 3C.

FIG. 3G is a schematic side cross-sectional view of the optical fibercoil of FIG. 3E.

FIG. 4A is a schematic top cut-away view of a pickup unit of adiagnostic patch washer in accordance with one embodiment of the presentteachings.

FIG. 4B is a schematic side cross-sectional view of the diagnostic patchwasher shown in FIG. 4A.

FIG. 4C is a schematic diagram of an exemplary bolt-jointed structureusing the diagnostic patch washer of FIG. 4A in accordance with oneembodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 4D is a schematic diagram of an exemplary bolt-jointed structureusing the diagnostic patch washer of FIG. 4A in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram of an interrogation system including asensor/actuator device in accordance with one embodiment of the presentteachings.

FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram of an interrogation system including asensor in accordance with one embodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram of a diagnostic network patch systemapplied to a host structure in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent teachings.

FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram of a diagnostic network patch systemhaving a strip network configuration in accordance with one embodimentof the present teachings.

FIG. 6C is a schematic diagram of a diagnostic network patch systemhaving a pentagon network configuration in accordance with oneembodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 6D is a schematic perspective view of a diagnostic network patchsystem incorporated into rivet/bolt-jointed composite laminates inaccordance with one embodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 6E is a schematic perspective view of a diagnostic network patchsystem incorporated into a composite laminate repaired with a bondingpatch in accordance with another embodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 6F is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of a wirelesscommunication system that controls a remote diagnostic network patchsystem in accordance with one embodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram of a diagnostic network patch systemhaving clustered sensors in a strip network configuration in accordancewith one embodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 7B is a schematic diagram of a diagnostic network patch systemhaving clustered sensors in a pentagonal network configuration inaccordance with another embodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 8A is a schematic diagram of a clustered sensor having opticalfiber coils in a serial connection in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present teachings.

FIG. 8B is a schematic diagram of a clustered sensor having opticalfiber coils in a parallel connection in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 9 is a plot of actuator and sensor signals in accordance with oneembodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 10A is an exploded partial cutaway view of a piezoelectric devicein accordance with one embodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 10B is a cross sectional diagram of the piezoelectric device inFIG. 10A, taken along the line 10-10.

FIG. 11A is an exploded partial cutaway view of a piezoelectric devicein accordance with another embodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 11B is a cross sectional diagram of the piezoelectric device inFIG. 11A, taken along the line 11-11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Although the following detained description contains many specifics forthe purposes of illustration, those of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that many variations and alterations to the following detainsare within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the followingembodiments of the invention are set forth without any loss ofgenerality to, and without imposing limitation upon, the claimedinvention.

FIG. 1A is a schematic top cut-away view of a pickup unit of 100 of apatch sensor in accordance with one embodiment of the present teachings.Hereinafter, the terms “pickup unit of a patch sensor” and “patchsensor” are used interchangeably. FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectionalview of the patch sensor 100 taken along a direction A-A of FIG. 1A. Asshown in FIGS. 1A-B, the patch sensor 100 may include: a substrate 102configured to attach to a host structure; a hoop layer 104; apiezoelectric device 108 for generating and/or receiving signals (morespecifically, Lamb waves); a buffer layer 110 for providing mechanicalimpedance matching and reducing thermal stress mismatch between thesubstrate 102 and the piezoelectric device 108; two electrical wires 118a-b connected to the piezoelectric device 108; a molding layer 120 forsecuring the piezoelectric device 108 to the substrate 102; and a coverlayer 106 for protecting and sealing the molding layer 120. Thepiezoelectric device 108 includes: a piezoelectric layer 116; a bottomconductive flake 112 connected to the electrical wire 118 b; and a topconductive flake 114 connected to the electrical wire 118 a. Thepiezoelectric device 108 may operate as an actuator (or, equivalently,signal generator) when a pre-designed electric signal is applied throughthe electric wires 118 a-b. Upon application of an electrical signal,the piezoelectric layer 116 may deform to generate Lamb waves. Also, thepiezoelectric device 108 may operate as a receiver for sensingvibrational signals, converting the vibrational signals applied to thepiezoelectric layer 116 into electric signals and transmitting theelectric signals through the wires 118 a-b. The wires 118 a-b may be athin ribbon type metallic wire.

The substrate 102 may be attached to a host structure using a structuraladhesive, typically a cast thermosetting epoxy, such as butyralthenolic,acrylic polyimide, nitriale phenolic or aramide. The substrate 102 maybe an insulation layer for thermal heat and electromagnetic interferenceprotecting the piezoelectric device 108 affixed to it. In someapplications, the dielectric substrate 102 may need to cope with atemperature above 250° C. Also it may have a low dielectric constant tominimize signal propagation delay, interconnection capacitance andcrosstalk between the piezoelectric device 108 and its host structure,and high impedance to reduce power loss at high frequency.

The substrate 102 may be made of various materials. Kapton® polyimidemanufactured by DuPont, Wilmington, Del., may be preferably used for itscommonplace while other three materials of Teflon perfluoroalkoxy (PFA),poly p-xylylene (PPX), and polybenzimidazole (PBI), can be used fortheir specific applications. For example, PFA film may have gooddielectric properties and low dielectric loss to be suitable for lowvoltage and high temperature applications. PPX and PBI may providestable dielectric strength at high temperatures.

The piezoelectric layer 116 can be made of piezoelectric ceramics,crystals or polymers. A piezoelectric crystal, such as PZN-PT crystalmanufactured by TRS Ceramics, Inc., State College, Pa., may bepreferably employed in the design of the piezoelectric device 108 due toits high strain energy density and low strain hysteresis. For small sizepatch sensors, the piezoelectric ceramics, such as PZT ceramicsmanufactured by Fuji Ceramic Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, or APCInternational, Ltd., Mackeyville, Pa., may be used for the piezoelectriclayer 116. The top and bottom conductive flakes 112 and 114 may be madeof metallic material, such as Cr or Au, and applied to the piezoelectriclayer 116 by the conventional sputtering process. In FIG. 1B, thepiezoelectric device 108 is shown to have only a pair of conductiveflakes. However, it should be apparent to those of ordinary skill thatthe piezoelectric device 108 may have the multiple stacks of conductiveflakes having various thicknesses to optimize the performance of thepiezoelectric layer 116 in generating/detecting signal waves. Thethickness of each flake may be determined by the constraints of thermaland mechanical loads given in a particular host structure that the patchsensor 100 is attached to.

To sustain temperature cycling, each layer of the piezoelectric device108 may need to have a thermal expansion coefficient similar to those ofother layers. Yet, the coefficient of a typical polyimide comprising thesubstrate 102 may be about 4-6×10⁻⁵ K⁻¹ while that of a typicalpiezoelectric ceramic/crystal comprising the piezoelectric layer 116 maybe about 3×10⁻⁶ K⁻¹. Such thermal expansion mismatch may be a majorsource of failure of the piezoelectric device 108. The failure ofpiezoelectric device 108 may require a replacement of the patch sensor100 from its host structure. As mentioned, the buffer layer 110 may beused to reduce the negative effect of the thermal coefficient mismatchbetween the piezoelectric layer 116 and the substrate 102.

The buffer layer 110 may be made of conductive polymer or metal,preferably aluminum (Al) with the thermal expansion coefficient of2×10⁻⁵ K⁻¹. One or more buffer layers made of alumina, silicon orgraphite may replace or be added to the buffer layer 110. In oneembodiment, the thickness of the buffer layer 110 made of aluminum maybe nearly equal to that of the piezoeletric layer 116, which isapproximately 0.25 mm including the two conductive flakes 112 and 114 ofabout 0.05 mm each. In general, the thickness of the buffer layer 110may be determined by the material property and thickness of its adjacentlayers. The buffer layer 110 may provide an enhanced durability againstthermal loads and consistency in the twofold function of thepiezoelectric device 108. In an alternative embodiment, thepiezoelectric device 108 may have another buffer layer applied over thetop conductive flake 114.

Another function of the buffer layer 110 may be amplifying signalsreceived by the substrate 102. As Lamb wave signals generated by a patchsensor 100 propagate along a host structure, the intensity of thesignals received by another patch sensor 100 attached on the hoststructure may decrease as the distance is between the two patch sensorsincreases. When a Lamb signal arrives at the location where a patchsensor 100 is located, the substrate 102 may receive the signal. Then,depending on the material and thickness of the buffer layer 110, theintensity of the received signal may be amplified at a specificfrequency. Subsequently, the piezoelectric device 108 may convert theamplified signal into electrical signal.

As moisture, mobile ions and hostile environmental condition may degradethe performance and reduce the lifetime of the patch sensor 100, twoprotective coating layers, a molding layer 120 and a cover layer 106 maybe used. The molding layer 120 may be made of epoxy, polyimide orsilicone-polyimide by the normal dispensing method. Also, the moldinglayer 120 may be formed of a low thermal expansion polyimide anddeposited over the piezoelectric device 108 and the substrate 102. Aspassivation of the molding layer 120 does not make a conformal hermeticseal, the cover layer 106 may be deposited on the molding layer 120 toprovide a hermitic seal. The cover layer 120 may be made of metal, suchas nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr) or silver (Ag), and deposited by aconventional method, such as electrolysis or e-beam evaporation andsputtering. In one embodiment, an additional film of epoxy or polyimidemay be coated on the cover layer 106 to provide a protective layeragainst scratching and cracks.

The hoop layer 104 may be made of dielectric insulating material, suchas silicon nitride or glass, and encircle the piezoelectric device 108mounted on the substrate 102 to prevent the conductive components of thepiezoelectric device 108 from electrical shorting.

FIG. 1C is a schematic top view of a piezoelectric device 130, which maybe a conventional type known in the art and can be used in place of thepiezoelectric device 108. FIG. 1D is a schematic cross-sectional view ofthe piezoelectric device 130 taken along the direction B-B of FIG. 1D.As shown FIGS. 1C-D, the piezoelectric device 130 includes: a bottomconductive flake 134; a piezoelectric layer 136; a top conductive flake132 connected to a wire 138 b; a connection flake 142 connected to awire 138 a; and a conducting segment 144 for connecting the connectionflake 142 to the bottom flake 134. The top conductive flake 132 may beelectrically separated from the connection flake 142 by a groove 140.

FIG. 1E is a schematic top cut-away view of a patch sensor 150 inaccordance with another embodiment of the present teachings. FIG. 1F isa schematic side cross-sectional view of the patch sensor 150 shown inFIG. 1E. As shown in FIGS. 1E-F, the patch sensor 150 may include: abottom substrate 151; a top substrate 152; a hoop layer 154; apiezoelectric device 156; top and bottom buffer layers 160 a-b; twoelectrical wires 158 a-b connected to the piezoelectric device 108. Thepiezoelectric device 156 includes: a piezoelectric layer 164; a bottomconductive flake 166 connected to the electrical wire 158 b; and a topconductive flake 162 connected to the electrical wire 158 a. Thefunctions and materials for the components of the patch sensor 150 maybe similar to those for their counterparts of the patch sensor 100. Eachof the buffer layers 160 a-b may include more than one sublayer and eachsublayer may be composed of polymer or metal. The top substrate 152 maybe made of the same material as that of the substrate 102.

The patch sensor 150 may be affixed to a host structure to monitor thestructural health conditions. Also, the patch sensor 150 may beincorporated within a laminate. FIG. 1G is a schematic cross-sectionalview of a composite laminate 170 having a patch sensor 150 therewithin.As illustrated in FIG. 1G, the host structure includes: a plurality ofplies 172; and at least one patch sensor 150 cured with the plurality ofplies 172. In one embodiment, the plies 172 may be impregnated withadhesive material, such as epoxy resin, prior to the curing process.During the curing process, the adhesive material from the plies 172 mayfill cavities 174. To obviate such accumulation of the adhesivematerial, the hoop layer 154 may have a configuration to fill the cavity174.

FIG. 1H is a schematic side cross-sectional view of an alternativeembodiment 180 of the patch sensor 150 of FIG. 1E. As illustrated, thepatch sensor 180 may include: a bottom substrate 182; a top substrate184; a hoop layer 198; a piezoelectric device 190; top and bottom bufferlayers 192 and 194; and the piezoelectric device 196. For simplicity, apair of wires connected to the piezoelectric device 190 is not shown inFIG. 1H. The piezoelectric device 190 may include: a piezoelectric layer196; a bottom conductive flake 194; and a top conductive flake 192. Thefunctions and materials for the components of the patch sensor 180 maybe similar to those of their counterparts of the patch sensor 150.

The hoop layer 198 may have one or more sublayers 197 of differentdimensions so that the outer contour of the hoop layer 198 may match thegeometry of cavity 174. By filling the cavity 174 with sublayers 197,the adhesive material may not be accumulated during the curing processof the laminate 170.

FIG. 2A is a schematic top cut-away view of a pickup unit 200 of ahybrid patch sensor in accordance with one embodiment of the presentteachings. Hereinafter, the terms “pickup unit of a hybrid patch sensor”and “hybrid patch sensor” are used interchangeably. FIG. 2B is aschematic cross-sectional view of the hybrid patch sensor 200 takenalong a direction C-C of FIG. 2A. As shown in FIGS. 2A-B, the hybridpatch sensor 200 may include: a substrate 202 configured to attach to ahost structure; a hoop layer 204; a piezoelectric device 208; an opticalfiber coil 210 having two ends 214 a-b; a buffer layer 216; twoelectrical wires 212 a-b connected to the piezoelectric device 208; amolding layer 228; and a cover layer 206. The piezoelectric device 208includes: a piezoelectric layer 222; a bottom conductive flake 220connected to the electrical wire 212 b; and a top conductive flake 218connected to the electrical wire 212 a. In an alternative embodiment,the piezoelectric device 208 may be the same as the device 130 of FIG.1C. The optical fiber coil 210 may include; a rolled optical fiber cable224; and a coating layer 226. Components of the hybrid patch sensor 200may be similar to their counterparts of the patch sensor 100.

The optical fiber coil 210 may be a Sagnac interferometer and operate toreceive Lamb wave signals. The elastic strain on the surface of a hoststructure incurred by Lamb wave may be superimposed on the pre-existingstrain of the optical fiber cable 224 incurred by bending andtensioning. As a consequence, the amount of frequency/phase change inlight traveling through the optical fiber cable 224 may be dependent onthe total length of the optical fiber cable 224. In one embodiment,considering its good immunity to electromagnetic interference andvibrational noise, the optical fiber coil 210 may be used as the majorsensor while the piezoelectric device 208 can be used as an auxiliarysensor.

The optical fiber coil 210 exploits the principle of Doppler's effect onthe frequency of light traveling through the rolled optical fiber cable224. For each loop of the optical fiber coil 210, the inner side of theoptical fiber loop may be under compression while the outer side may beunder tension. These compression and tension may generate strain on theoptical fiber cable 224. The vibrational displacement or strain of thehost structure incurred by Lamb waves may be superimposed on the strainof the optical fiber cable 224. According to a birefringence equation,the reflection angle on the cladding surface of the optical fiber cable224 may be a function of the strain incurred by the compression and/ortension. Thus, the inner and outer side of each optical fiber loop maymake reflection angles different from that of a straight optical fiber,and consequently, the frequency of light may shift from a centered inputfrequency according to the relative flexural displacement of Lamb waveas light transmits through the optical fiber coil 210.

In one embodiment, the optical fiber coil 210 may include 10 to 30 turnsof the optical fiber cable 224 and have a smallest loop diameter 236,d_(i), of at least 10 mm. There may be a gap 234, d_(g), between theinnermost loop of the optical fiber coil 210 and the outer periphery ofthe piezoelectric device 208. The gap 234 may depend on the smallestloop diameter 236 and the diameter 232, d_(p), of the piezoelectricdevice 208, and be preferably larger than the diameter 232 by about twoor three times of the diameter 230, d_(f), of the optical fiber cable224.

The coating layer 226 may be comprised of a metallic or polymermaterial, preferably an epoxy, to increase the sensitivity of theoptical fiber coil 210 to the flexural displacement or strain of Lambwaves guided by its host structure. Furthermore, a controlled tensionalforce can be applied to the optical fiber cable 224 during the rollingprocess of the optical fiber cable 224 to give additional tensionalstress. The coating layer 226 may sustain the internal stress of therolled optical fiber cable 224 and allow a uniform in-plane displacementrelative to the flexural displacement of Lamb wave for each opticalloop.

The coating layer 226 may also be comprised of other material, such aspolyimide, aluminum, copper, gold or silver. The thickness of thecoating layer 226 may range from about 30% to two times of the diameter230. The coating layer 226 comprised of polymer material may be appliedin two ways. In one embodiment, a rolled optic fiber cable 224 may belaid on the substrate 202 and the polymer coating material may besprayed by a dispenser, such as Biodot spay-coater. In anotherembodiment, a rolled optic fiber cable 224 may be dipped into a moltenbath of the coating material.

Coating layer 226 comprised of metal may be applied by a conventionalmetallic coating technique, such as magnetron reactive orplasma-assisted sputtering as well as electrolysis. Specially, the zincoxide can be used as the coating material of the coating layer 226 toprovide the piezoelectric characteristic for the coating layer 226. Whenzinc oxide is applied to top and bottom surfaces of the rolled opticalfiber cable 224, the optical fiber coil 210 may contract or expandconcentrically in radial direction responding to electrical signals.Furthermore, the coating material of silicon oxide or tantalum oxide canalso be used to control the refractive index of the rolled fiber opticalcable 224. Silicon oxide or tantalum oxide may be applied using theindirect/direct ion beam-assisted deposition technique or electron beamvapor deposition technique. It is noted that other methods may be usedfor applying the coating layer 226 to the optical fiber cable 224without deviating from the present teachings.

The piezoelectric device 208 and the optical fiber coil 210 may beaffixed to the substrate 202 using physically setting adhesives insteadof common polymers, where the physically setting adhesives may include,but not limited to, butylacrylate-ethylacrylate copolymer,styrene-butadiene-isoprene terpolymer and polyurethane alkyd resin. Theadhesive properties of these materials may remain constant during andafter the coating process due to the lack of cross-linking in thepolymeric structure. Furthermore, those adhesives may be optimized forwetting a wide range of substrate 202 without compromising theirsensitivity to different analytes, compared to conventional polymers.

FIG. 2C is a schematic top cut-away view of a hybrid patch sensor 240 inaccordance with another embodiment of the present teachings. FIG. 2D isa schematic side cross-sectional view of the hybrid patch sensor 240shown in FIG. 2C. As shown in FIGS. 2C-D, the hybrid patch sensor 240may include: a bottom substrate 254; a top substrate 242; a hoop layer244; a piezoelectric device 248; an optical fiber coil 246 having twoends 250 a-b; top and bottom buffer layers 260 a-b; and two electricalwires 252 a-b connected to the piezoelectric device 248. Thepiezoelectric device 248 includes: a piezoelectric layer 264; a bottomconductive flake 262 connected to the electrical wire 252 b; and a topconductive flake 266 connected to the electrical wire 252 a. The opticalfiber coil 246 may include; a rolled optical fiber cable 258; and acoating layer 256. Components of the hybrid patch sensor 240 may besimilar to their counterparts of the hybrid patch sensor 200.

As in the case of the patch sensor 150, the hybrid patch sensor 240 maybe affixed to a host structure and/or incorporated within a compositelaminate. In one embodiment, the hoop layer 244 may be similar to thehoop layer 198 to fill the cavity formed by the patch sensor 240 and thecomposite laminate.

FIG. 3A a schematic top cut-away view of a pickup unit 300 of an opticalfiber patch sensor in accordance with one embodiment of the presentteachings. Hereinafter, the terms “pickup unit of an optical fiber patchsensor” and “optical fiber patch sensor” are used interchangeably. FIG.3B a schematic side cross-sectional view of the optical fiber patchsensor 300 taken along the direction D-D of FIG. 3A. As shown in FIGS.3A-B, the optical fiber patch sensor 300 may include: a substrate 302; ahoop layer 304; an optical fiber coil 308 having two ends 310 a-b; amolding layer 316; and a cover layer 306. The optical fiber coil 308 mayinclude; a rolled optical fiber cable 312; and a coating layer 314. Thematerial and function of each element of the optical fiber patch sensor300 may be similar to those of its counterpart of the hybrid patchsensor 200 in FIG. 2A. The diameter 313 of the innermost loop may bedetermined by the material property of the optic fiber cable 312.

FIG. 3C a schematic top cut-away view of the optical fiber coil 308contained in the optical fiber patch sensor of FIG. 3A, illustrating amethod for rolling the optical fiber cable 312. As shown in FIG. 3C, theoutermost loop of the optical fiber coil 308 may start with one end 310a while the innermost loop may end with the other end 310 b. FIG. 3D aschematic top cut-away view of an alternative embodiment 318 of theoptical fiber coil 308 shown in FIG. 3C. As shown in FIG. 3D, theoptical fiber cable 322 may be folded and rolled in such a manner thatthe outermost loops may start with both ends 320 a-b. The rolled opticalfiber cable 322 may be covered by a coating layer 319.

It is noted that the optical fiber coils 308 and 318 show in FIGS. 3C-Dmay be attached directly to a host structure and used as optical fibercoil sensors. For this reason, hereinafter, the terms “optical fibercoil” and “optical fiber coil sensor” will be used interchangeably.FIGS. 3E-F are alternative embodiments of the optical fiber coil 308. Asillustrated in FIG. 3E, the optical fiber coil 330 may include: anoptical fiber cable 334 having two ends 338 a-b and being rolled in thesame manner as the cable 312; and a coating layer 332. The coil 330 mayhave a hole 336 to accommodate a fastener as will be explained later.Likewise, the optical fiber coil 340 in FIG. 3F may include: an opticalfiber cable 344 having two ends 348 a-b and being rolled in the samemanner as the cable 322; and a coating layer 342. The coil 340 may havea hole 346 to accommodate a fastener. FIG. 3G is a schematic sidecross-sectional view of the optical fiber coil 330 taken along thedirection DD of FIG. 3E.

It should be noted that the sensors described in FIG. 3A-G may beincorporated within a laminate in a similar manner as described in FIG.1G.

FIG. 4A a schematic top cut-away view of a pickup unit 400 of adiagnostic patch washer in accordance with one embodiment of the presentteachings. Hereinafter, the terms “pickup unit of a diagnostic patchwasher” and “diagnostic patch washer” are used interchangeably. FIG. 4Ba schematic side cross-sectional view of the diagnostic patch washer 400taken along the direction E-E of FIG. 4A. As shown in FIGS. 4A-B, thediagnostic patch washer 400 may include: an optical fiber coil 404having two ends 410 a-b; a piezoelectric device 406; a support element402 for containing the optical fiber coil 404 and the piezoelectricdevice 406, the coil 404 and the device 406 being affixed to the supportelement 402 by adhesive material; a pair of electrical wires 408 a-bconnected to the piezoelectric device 406; and a covering disk 414configured to cover the optical fiber coil 404 and the piezoelectricdevice 406. The optical fiber coil 404 and piezoelectric device 406 maybe include within a space or channel formed in the support element 402.

The material and function of the optical fiber coil 404 and thepiezoelectric device 406 may be similar to those of the optical fibercoil 210 and the piezoelectric device 208 of the hybrid patch sensor200. In one embodiment, the piezoelectric device 406 may be similar tothe device 130, except that the device 406 has a hole 403. The opticalfiber coil 404 and the piezoelectric device 406 may be affixed to thesupport element 402 using a conventional epoxy. The support element 402may have a notch 412, through which the ends 410 a-b of the opticalfiber coil 404 and the pair of electrical wires 408 a-b may pass.

In FIGS. 4A-B, the diagnostic patch washer 400 may operate as anactuator/sensor and have the optical fiber coil 404 and thepiezoelectric device 406. In an alternative embodiment, the diagnosticpatch washer 400 may operate as a sensor and have the optical fiber coil404 only. In another alternative embodiment, the diagnostic patch washer400 may operate as an actuator/sensor and have the piezoelectric device406 only.

As shown in FIGS. 4A-B, the diagnostic patch washer 400 may have ahollow space 403 to accommodate other fastening device, such as a boltor rivet. FIG. 4C is a schematic diagram of an exemplary bolt-jointedstructure 420 using the diagnostic patch washer 400 in accordance withone embodiment of the present teachings. In the bolt-jointed structure420, a conventional bolt 424, nut 426 and washer 428 may be used to holda pair of structures 422 a-b, such as plates. It is well known thatstructural stress may be concentrated near a bolt-jointed area 429 andprone to structural damages. The diagnostic patch washer 400 may beincorporated in the bolt-joint structure 420 and used to detect suchdamages.

FIG. 4D is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of an exemplarybolt-jointed structure 430 using the diagnostic patch washer 400 inaccordance with another embodiment of the present teachings. In thebolt-joint structure 430, a conventional bolt 432, nut 434 and a pair ofwashers 436 and 438 may be used to hold a honeycomb/laminated structure440. The honeycomb and laminate structure 440 may include a compositelaminate layer 422 and a honeycomb portion 448. To detect the structuraldamages near the bolt-joint area, a pair of diagnostic patch washers 400a-b may be inserted within the honeycomb portion 448, as illustrated inFIG. 4D. A sleeve 446 may be required to support the top and bottompatch washers 400 a-b against the composite laminate layer 442. Also, athermal-protection circular disk 444 may be inserted between thecomposite laminate layer 422 and the diagnostic patch washer 400 b toprotect the washer 400 b from destructive heat transfer.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the outer perimeter 415 of the covering disk 414may have a slant angle to form a locking mechanism, which can keepoptical fiber coil 404 and the piezoelectric device 406 from excessivecontact load by the torque applied to the bolt 424 and nut 426.

FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram of an interrogation system 500 includinga sensor/actuator device in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent teachings. Hereinafter, the terms “sensor” and “pickup unit of asensor” are interchangeably used. As shown in FIG. 5A, the system 500may include: a sensor/actuator device 502 for generating and/orreceiving Lamb wave signals; a two-conductor electrical wire 516; aconditioner 508 for processing signals received by the device 502;analog-to-digital (A/D) converter 504 for converting analog signals todigital signals; a computer 514 for managing entire elements of thesystem 500; an amplifier 506; a waveform generator 510 for convertingdigital signals into the analog Lamb wave signals; and a relay switcharray module 512 configured to switch connections between the device 502and the computer 514. In general, more than one device 502 may beconnected to the relay switch 512.

The device 502 may be one of the sensors described in FIGS. 1A-2D andFIGS. 4A-D that may include a piezoelectric device for generating Lambwaves 517 and receiving Lamb waves generated by other devices. Togenerate Lamb waves 517, a waveform generator 510 may receive thedigital signals of the excitation waveforms from computer 514 (morespecifically, an analog output card included in the computer 514)through the relay switch array module 512. In one embodiment, thewaveform generator 510 may be an analog output card.

The relay switch array module 512 may be a conventional plug-in relayboard. As a “cross-talks” linker between the actuators and sensors, therelay switches included in the relay switch array module 512 may becoordinated by the microprocessor of the computer 514 to select eachrelay switch in a specific sequencing order. In one embodiment, analogsignals generated by the waveform generator 510 may be sent to otheractuator(s) through a branching electric wire 515.

The device 502 may function as a sensor for receiving Lamb waves. Thereceived signals may be sent to the conditioner 508 that may adjust thesignal voltage and filter electrical noise to select meaningful signalswithin an appropriate frequency bandwidth. Then, the filtered signal maybe sent to the analog-to-digital converter 504, which may be a digitalinput card. The digital signals from the analog-to-digital converter 504may be transmitted through the relay switch array module 512 to thecomputer 514 for further analysis.

FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram of an interrogation system 520 includinga sensor in accordance with another embodiment of the present teachings.The system 520 may include: a sensor 522 having an optical fiber coil;optical fiber cable 525 for connections; a laser source 528 forproviding a carrier input signal; a pair of modulators 526 and 534; anacoustical optic modulator (AOM) 530; a pair of coupler 524 and 532; aphoto detector 536 for sensing the light signal transmitted through theoptical fiber cable 525; an A/D converter 538; a relay switch 540; and acomputer 542. The sensor 522 may be one of the sensors described inFIGS. 2A-4D that may include an optical fiber coil. In one embodiment,the coupler 524 may couple the optical fiber cable 525 to anotheroptical fiber 527 that may be connected to another sensor 523.

The sensor 522, more specifically the optic fiber coil included in thesensor 522, may operate as a laser Doppler velocitimeter (LDV). Thelaser source 528, preferably a diode laser, may emit an input carrierlight signal to the modulator 526. The modulator 526 may be a heterodynemodulator and split the carrier input signal into two signals; one forthe sensor 522 and the other for AOM 530. The sensor 522 may shift theinput carrier signal by a Doppler's frequency corresponding to Lamb wavesignals and transmit it to the modulator 534, where the modulator 534may be a heterodyne synchronizer. The modulator 534 may demodulate thetransmitted light to remove the carrier frequency of light. The photodetector 536, preferably a photo diode, may convert the demodulatedlight signal into an electrical signal. Then, the A/D converter 538 maydigitize the electrical signal and transmit to the computer 542 via therelay switch array module 540. In one embodiment, the coupler 532 maycouple an optical fiber cable 546 connected to another sensor 544.

FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram of a diagnostic network patch system(DNP) 600 applied to a host structure 610 in accordance with oneembodiment of the present teachings. As illustrated in FIG. 6A, thesystem 600 may include: patches 602; transmission links 612; at leastone bridge box 604 connected to the transmission links 612; a dataacquisition system 606; and a computer 608 for managing the DNP system600. The patches 602 may be a device 502 or a sensor 522, where the typeof transmission links 612 may be determined by the type of the patches602 and include electrical wires, optical fiber cables, or both.Typically, the host structure 610 may be made of composite or metallicmaterial.

Transmission links 612 may be terminated at the bridge box 604. Thebridge box 604 may connect the patches 602 to admit signals from anexternal waveform generator 510 and to send received signals to anexternal A/D converter 504. The bridge box 604 may be connected throughan electrical/optical cable and can contain an electronic conditioner508 for conditioning actuating signals, filtering received signals, andconverting fiber optic signals to electrical signals. Using the relayswitch array module 512, the data acquisition system 606 coupled to thebridge box 604 can relay the patches 602 and multiplex received signalsfrom the patches 602 into the channels in a predetermined sequenceorder.

It is well known that the generation and detection of Lamb waves isinfluenced by the locations of actuators and sensors on a hoststructure. Thus, the patches 602 should be properly paired in a networkconfiguration to maximize the usage of Lamb waves for damageidentification.

FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram of a diagnostic network patch system 620having a strip network configuration in accordance with one embodimentof the present teachings. As shown in FIG. 6B, the system 620 may beapplied to a host structure 621 and include: patches 622; a bridge box624 connected to a computer 626; and transmission links 632. The patches622 may be a device 502 or a sensor 522, where the type of transmissionlinks 632 may be determined by the type of the patches 622. Thetransmission links 632 may be electrical wires, optical fiber cables, orboth.

The computer 626 may coordinate the operation of patches 622 such thatthey may function as actuators and/or sensors. Arrows 630 represent thepropagation of Lamb waves generated by patches 622. In general, defects628 in the host structure 621 may affect the transmission pattern in theterms of wave scattering, diffraction, and transmission loss of Lambwaves. The defects 628 may include damages, crack and delamination ofcomposite structures, etc. The defects 628 may be monitored by detectingthe changes in transmission pattern of Lamb waves captured by thepatches 622.

The network configuration of DNP system is important in Lamb-wave basedstructural health monitoring systems. In the network configuration ofDNP system 620, the wave-ray communication paths should be uniformlyrandomized. Uniformity of the communication paths and distance betweenthe patches 622 can determine the smallest detectible size of defects628 in the host structure 621. An optimized network configuration withappropriate patch arrangement may enhance the accuracy of the damageidentification without increasing the number of the patches 622.

Another configuration for building up wave ‘cross-talk’ paths betweenpatches may be a pentagonal network as shown in FIG. 6C. FIG. 6C is aschematic diagram of a diagnostic network patch system 640 having apentagon network configuration in accordance with another embodiment ofthe present teachings. The system 640 may be applied to a host structure652 and may include: patches 642; a bridge box 644 connected to acomputer 646; and transmission links 654. The patches 642 may be adevice 502 or a sensor 522. As in the system 630, the patches 642 maydetect a defect 650 by sending or receiving Lamb waves indicated by thearrows 648.

FIG. 6D is a schematic perspective view of a diagnostic network patchsystem 660 incorporated into rivet/bolt-jointed composite laminates 666and 668 in accordance with another embodiment of the present teachings.As illustrated in FIG. 6D, the system 660 may include: patches 662; anddiagnostic patch washers 664, each washer being coupled with a pair ofbolt and nut. For simplicity, a bridge box and transmission links arenot shown in FIG. 6D. The patches 662 may be a device 502 or a sensor522. In the system 660, the patches 662 and diagnostic patch washers 664may detect the defects 672 by sending or receiving Lamb waves asindicated by arrows 670. Typically, the defects 672 may develop near theholes for the fasteners. The diagnostic patch washers 664 maycommunicate with other neighborhood diagnostic patches 662 that may bearranged in a strip network configuration, as shown in FIG. 6D. In oneembodiment, the optical fiber coil sensors 330 and 340 may be used inplace of the diagnostic patch washers 664.

FIG. 6E is a schematic perspective view of a diagnostic network patchsystem 680 applied to a composite laminate 682 that may be repaired witha bonding patch 686 in accordance with one embodiment of the presentteachings. As illustrated in FIG. 6E, the system 680 may include patches684 that may be a device 502 or a sensor 522. For simplicity, a bridgebox and transmission links are not shown in FIG. 6E. In the system 680,the patches 684 may detect the defects 688 located between the repairpatch 686 and the composite laminate 682 by sending or receiving Lambwaves as indicated by arrows 687.

FIG. 6F is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of a wirelessdata communication system 690 that controls a remote diagnostic networkpatch system in accordance with one embodiment of the present teachings.As illustrated in FIG. 6F, the system 690 includes: a bridge box 698;and a ground communication system 694 that may be operated by a groundcontrol 692. The bridge box 698 may be coupled to a diagnostic networkpatch system implemented to a host structure, such as an airplane 696,that may require extensive structural health monitoring.

The bridge box 698 may operate in two ways. In one embodiment, thebridge box 698 may operate as a signal emitter. In this embodiment, thebridge box 698 may comprise micro miniature transducers and amicroprocessor of a RF telemetry system that may send the structuralhealth monitoring information to the ground communication system 694 viawireless signals 693. In another embodiment, the bridge box 698 mayoperate as a receiver of electromagnetic waves. In this embodiment, thebridge box 698 may comprise an assembly for receiving power from theground communication system 694 via wireless signals 693, where thereceived power may be used to operate a DNP system applied to thestructure 696. The assembly may include a micro-machined siliconsubstrate that has stimulating electrodes, complementary metal oxidesemiconductor (CMOS), bipolar power regulation circuitry, hybrid chipcapacitors, and receiving antenna coils.

The structure of the bridge box 698 may be similar to the outer layer ofthe host structure 696. In one embodiment, the bridge box 698 may have amultilayered honeycomb sandwich structure, where a plurality of microstrip antennas are embedded in the outer faceplate of the multilayeredhoneycomb sandwich structure and operate as conformal load-bearingantennas. The multilayered honeycomb sandwich structure may comprise ahoneycomb core and multilayer dielectric laminates made of organicand/or inorganic materials, such as e-glass/epoxy, Kevlar/epoxy,graphite/epoxy, aluminum or steel. As the integrated micro-machiningtechnology evolves rapidly, the size and production cost of the microstrip antennas may be reduced further, which may translate to savings ofoperational/production costs of the bridge box 698 without compromisingits performance.

The scope of the invention is not intended to limit to the use of thestandard Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and the wireless markuplanguages for a wireless structural health monitoring system. With amobile Internet toolkit, the application system can build a secure siteto which structural condition monitoring or infrastructure managementcan be correctly accessed by a WAP-enable cell phone, a Pocket PC with aHTML browser, or other HTML-enabled devices.

As a microphone array may be used to find the direction of a movingsource, a clustered sensor array may be used to find damaged locationsby measuring the difference in time of signal arrivals. FIG. 7A is aschematic diagram of a diagnostic network patch system 700 havingclustered sensors in a strip network configuration in accordance withone embodiment of the present teachings. As illustrated in FIG. 7A, thesystem 700 may be applied to a host structure 702 and include clusteredsensors 704 and transmission links 706. Each clustered sensor 704includes two receivers 708 and 712 and one actuator/receiver device 710.Each of the receivers 708 and 712 may be one of the sensors described inFIGS. 1A-4D, while the actuator/receiver device 710 may be one of thesensors described in FIGS. 1A-2D and FIGS. 4A-D and have a piezoelectricdevice for generating Lamb waves. When the actuator/receiver 710 of aclustered sensor 704 sends Lamb waves, the neighboring clustered sensors704 may receive the Lamb waves using all three elements, i.e., theactuator/receiver device 710 and receivers 708 and 712. By using allthree elements as a receiver unit, each clustered sensor 704 can receivemore refined Lamb wave signals. Also, by measuring the difference intime of arrivals between the three elements, the direction of the defect714 may be located with enhanced accuracy.

FIG. 7B is a schematic diagram of a diagnostic network patch system 720having clustered sensors in a pentagonal network configuration inaccordance with another embodiment of the present teachings. Asillustrated in FIG. 7B, the system 720 may be applied to a hoststructure 722 to detect a defect 734 and include clustered sensors 724and transmission links 726. Each clustered sensor 724 may be similar tothe clustered sensor 704.

FIG. 8A shows a schematic diagram of a clustered sensor 800 havingoptical fiber coils in a serial connection in accordance with oneembodiment of the present teachings. The clustered sensor 800 may besimilar to the clustered sensor 704 in FIG. 7A and include two sensors804 and 808 and an actuator/sensor 806. In this configuration, an inputsignal may enter the sensor through one end 810 a and the output signalfrom the other end 810 b may be a sum of the input signal andcontribution of the three sensors 804, 806 and 808. In one embodiment,the signal from each sensor may be separated from others using awavelength-based de-multiplex techniques.

FIG. 8B a schematic diagram of a clustered sensor 820 having opticalfiber coils in a parallel connection in accordance with one embodimentof the present teachings. The clustered sensor 820 may be similar to theclustered sensor 704 in FIG. 7A and include two sensors 824 and 828 andan actuator/sensor 826. In this configuration, input signals may enterthe three sensors through three end 830 a, 832 a and 834 a,respectively, while output signals from the other ends 830 b, 832 b and834 b may be a sum of the input signal and contribution of the threesensors 824, 826 and 828, respectively.

It is noted that, in FIGS. 8A-B, the sensors 804, 808, 824 and 828 havebeen illustrated as optical fiber coil sensors 308. However, it shouldapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that each of the sensors804, 808, 824 and 828 may be one of the sensors described in FIGS.1A-4D, while each of the middle sensors 806 and 826 may be one of thesensors described in 1A-2D and FIGS. 4A-D and have a piezoelectricdevice for generating Lamb waves. Also, the clustered sensors 800 and820 may be incorporated within a composite laminate in the same manneras described in FIG. 1G.

FIG. 9 shows a plot 900 of actuator and sensor signals in accordancewith one embodiment of the present teachings. To generate Lamb waves, anactuator signal 904 may be applied to an actuator, such as a patchsensor 100. The actuator signal 904 may be a toneburst signal that hasseveral wave peaks with the highest amplitude in the mid of waveform andhas a spectrum energy of narrow frequency bandwidth. The actuator signal904 may be designed by the use of Hanning function on various waveformsand have its central frequency within 0.01 MHz to 1.0 MHz. When theactuator receives the actuator signal 904, it may generate Lamb waveshaving a specific excitation frequency.

Signals 912 a-n may represent sensor signals received by sensors. As canbe noticed, each signal 912 may have wave packets 926, 928 and 930separated by signal extracting windows (or, equivalently envelops) 920,922 and 924, respectively. These wave packets 926, 928 and 930 may havedifferent frequencies due to the dispersion modes at the sensorlocation. It is noted that the signal partitioning windows 916 have beenapplied to identify Lamb-wave signal from each sensor signal. The wavepackets 926, 928 and 930 correspond to a fundamental symmetric mode S₀,a reflected mode S₀ _(—) _(ref) and a fundamental antisymmetric mode A₀,respectively. The reflected mode S₀ _(—) _(ref) may represent thereflection of Lamb waves from a host structure boundary. A basic shearmode, S₀′, and other higher modes can be observed. However, they are notshown in FIG. 9 for simplicity.

Portions 914 of sensor signals 912 may be electrical noise due to thetoneburst actuator signal 904. To separate the portions 914 from therest of sensor signals 912, masking windows 916, which may be a sigmoidfunction delayed in the time period of actuation, may be applied tosensor signals 912 as threshold functions. Then, moving wave-envelopewindows 920, 922 and 924 along the time history of each sensor signalmay be employed to extract the wave packets 926, 928 and 930 from thesensor signal of 912. The envelope windows 920, 922 and 924 may bedetermined by applying a hill-climbing algorithm that searches for peaksand valleys of the sensor signals 912 and interpolating the searcheddata point in time axis. The magnitude and position of each data pointin the wave signal may be stored if the magnitude of the closestneighborhood data points are less than that of the current data pointuntil the comparison of wave magnitude in the forward and backwarddirection continues to all the data points of the wave signal. Once waveenvelopes 918 are obtained, each envelope may break into sub envelopewindows 920, 922 and 924 with time spans corresponding to those ofLamb-wave modes. The sub envelop windows 920, 922 and 924 may be appliedto extract wave packets 926, 928 and 930 by moving along the entire timehistory of each measured sensor signal 912.

FIG. 10A is an exploded partial cutaway view of a piezoelectric device1000 in accordance with one embodiment of the present teachings. FIG.10B is a cross sectional diagram of the piezoelectric device in FIG. 1A,taken along the line 10-10. The piezoelectric device 1000 may be used inplace of the previously described exemplary embodiments 108 (FIG. 1B),156 (FIG. 1F), 190 (FIG. 1H), 208 (FIG. 2B), 248 (FIG. 2D), and 406(FIG. 4B), for example. More detailed descriptions of the sensors andsystems that include the previous embodiments can be found in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10,942,366, and its divisional applicationSer. Nos. 11/304,441, 11/391,351, 11/414,166, and 11/445,452, which areherein incorporated by reference in their entirety. It is noted that thepiezoelectric device 1000 may be compatible with the sensors and systemsdisclosed in these applications.

As depicted in FIGS. 10A-10B, the piezoelectric device 1000 may include:a top base layer 1002; a top covering layer 1003 positioned beneath thetop base layer; one or more top conductive rings 1004 formed beneath thetop base layer 1002; a top layer tab 1006 formed on the side of the topbase layer 1002; a top electrode or electrical node 1022 formed beneaththe top layer tab 1006 and the top base layer 1002, and electricallyconnected to the top conductive rings 1004; one or more piezoelectricrings 1008; one or more filler rings 1010 formed between thepiezoelectric rings 1008; top/bottom conductive flakes 1018 formed onthe top/bottom surfaces of the piezoelectric rings; a bottom coveringlayer 1005; a bottom base layer 1014; a bottom layer tab 1024 formed onthe side of the bottom base layer 1014; one or more bottom conductiverings 1012 and a bottom electrode or electrical node 1016 formed on thebottom layer tab 1024 and the bottom base layer 1014, and electricallyconnected to the bottom conductive rings 1012.

The top cover plate 1060 may include the top base layer 1002, topcovering layer 1003, and top conductive rings 1004, while the bottomcover plate 1062 may include the bottom base layer 1014, bottom coveringlayer 1005, and bottom conductive rings 1012. The top base layer 1002and top layer tab 1006 may be fabricated by, but not limited to, cuttingout a polyimide or polyester sheet having a metal coating thereon. Themetal coating may be formed from copper, silver, gold, or other suitablemetallic materials. Then, the metal coating may be etched to form apattern of rings thereby generating the top conductive rings 1004. Thepattern may also include the top electrode node 1022, wherein the node1022 may include extensions 1017 for connecting to the top conductiverings 1004. The top base layers 1002 may be secured to the top coveringlayers 1003 by use of a thermo-setting adhesive, such as acrylic resinor epoxy resin. The top covering layer 1003, which fills the spacingbetween adjacent top conductive rings 1004, may be formed from polyimideor polyester. The bottom cover plate 1062 may be fabricated in the samemanner as the top cover plate 1060. Likewise, the bottom layer tab 1024,the bottom electrical node 1016, and extensions 1019 may be generated inthe same manner as their counterparts in the top cover plate 1060.

The conductive flakes 1018 may provide firm contact between thepiezoelectric rings 1008 and top/bottom conductive rings 1004, 1012.Each of the conductive flakes 1018 may have a flat disk ring shape, andpreferably fabricated by coating a metal layer on the piezoelectricrings 1008. The filler rings 1010 may be formed from glass-epoxy orcarbon-epoxy. Each of the filler rings 1010 may be also generated bywinding glass or carbon fiber impregnated with epoxy around a dummy rodto form a ring shape and baking the fiber ring. Thermo-settingadhesives, such as acrylic or epoxy resin, may be used to attach thefiller rings 1010 to the top and bottom covering layers 1003, 1005thereby form an integrated body of the piezoelectric device 1000. Thetop and bottom electrical nodes 1022, 1016 may respectively have holes1007, 1026 for coupling to two electrical wires through which actuatorsignals or sensor signals may be transmitted to or from thepiezoelectric rings 1008.

The piezoelectric device 1000 may have a hole 1020 such that it can beused in a diagnostic patch washer 400 of FIG. 4A. As a variation, thecenter hole may be filled with epoxy. As another variation, thepiezoelectric device 1000 may not have a hole and, instead, apiezoelectric disk that is covered with conductive flakes, top/bottombase layers, and top/bottom covering layers and is coupled to theelectrical nodes may be included in place of the hole. In FIGS. 10A-10B,only three piezoelectric rings are shown for the purpose ofillustration. However, it should be apparent to those of ordinary skillthat the present disclosure may be practiced with any suitable number ofpiezoelectric rings.

FIG. 11A is an exploded partial cutaway view of a piezoelectric device1100 in accordance with another embodiment of the present teachings.FIG. 11B is a cross sectional diagram of the piezoelectric device 1100in FIG. 11A, taken along the line 11-11. As in the case of thepiezoelectric device 1000 depicted in FIGS. 10A-10B, the piezoelectricdevice 1100 may be used in place of the previously described exemplaryembodiments 108 (FIG. 1B), 156 (FIG. 1F), 190 (FIG. 1H), 208 (FIG. 2B),248 (FIG. 2D), and 406 (FIG. 4B), for example. Likewise, thepiezoelectric device 1100 may be compatible with the sensors and systemsdisclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10,942,366 and itsdivisional application Ser. Nos. 11/304,441, 11/391,351, 11/414,166, and11/445,452.

As depicted in FIGS. 11A-11B, the piezoelectric device 1100 may have atop cover plate 1101, a middle portion 1103, and a bottom cover plate1105. The top cover plate 1101 may include three pairs of top baselayers 1122 and top covering layers 1128, a top layer tab 1132, andthree top conductive rings 1104. Each of the covering layers 1128 mayinclude a top electrode or electrical node 1124 coupled to acorresponding one of the top conductive rings 1104. Except the portionsoccupied by the top electrical nodes 1124, the covering layers 1128 maybe formed from polyimide or polyester to insulate one of the topconductive rings 1104 from the others. The base layers 1122 may beformed from polyimide or polyester. Some of the top conductive rings1104 may be simply metal rings attached to the top covering layers 1124by a conductive epoxy. The top conductive rings 1104 may be alsogenerated by winding carbon or glass fiber impregnated with conductiveepoxy, such as epoxy having boron nitride particles, around a dummy rodto form a ring shape and baking the fiber ring. Some of the topconductive rings 1104, such as the outermost of three, may be generatedby etching a metal coating formed on a top base layer. The bottomconductive rings 1144 may be fabricated in the same way as the topconductive rings 1104. The top base layers 1122 may be secured to thetop covering layers 1128 by use of a thermo-setting adhesive, such asacrylic resin or epoxy resin.

The middle portion 1103 may include three piezoelectric rings 1108 andtop/bottom conductive flakes 1130 formed on the top/multiplex bottomsurfaces of the piezoelectric rings 1108. The conductive flakes 1130 mayhave similar structures as the flakes 1018. The middle portion 1103 mayalso include filler rings 1106, wherein the height of each filler ringmay be such that the protruding portions of the filler ring may fit intothe corresponding recesses formed in the top and bottom cover plates1101, 1105. The filler rings 1106 may be formed of glass-epoxy orcarbon-epoxy. The filler rings 1106 may be also fabricated in the sameway as the filler rings 1010.

The bottom cover plate 1105 may have the same structure as the top coverplate 1101 and include bottom base layers 1142, bottom covering layers1140, a bottom layer tab 1134, and bottom conductive rings 1144.Likewise, each of the bottom covering layers 1140 may include one of thebottom electrical nodes 1136. Thermo-setting adhesives, such as acrylicor epoxy resin, may be used to attach the filler rings 1106 to the topand bottom covering layers 1128, 1140 thereby to form an integrated bodyof the piezoelectric device 1100. The bottom base layers 1142 may besecured to the bottom covering layers 1140 by use of a thermo-settingadhesive, such as acrylic resin or epoxy resin.

The top and bottom electrical nodes 1124, 1136 may have three holes forcoupling to three pairs of electric wires, respectively. Each pair ofelectric wires may be coupled to one of the piezoelectric rings 1108 andoperative to transmit actuator signals to or sensor signals from thepiezoelectric ring. As such, each of the three piezoelectric rings 1008may simultaneously function as an actuator or a sensor, i.e., thepiezoelectric device 1100 may operate in dual mode in a point in time.

The piezoelectric device 1100 may have a hole 1120 such that it can beused in a diagnostic patch washer 400 of FIG. 4A. As a variation, thecenter hole may be filled with epoxy. As another variation, thepiezoelectric device 1100 may not have a hole and, instead, may includea piezoelectric disk that is covered with additional set of conductiveflakes, top/bottom base layers, and top/bottom covering layers and iscoupled to another pair of electric wires and electrical nodes. In thiscase, the piezoelectric device 1100 may include four piezoelectricrings. In FIGS. 11A-11B, only three piezoelectric rings are shown.However, it should be apparent to those of ordinary skill that thepresent disclosure may be practiced with any suitable number ofpiezoelectric rings.

While the present invention has been described with reference to thespecific embodiments thereof, it should be understood that the foregoingrelates to preferred embodiments of the invention and that modificationsmay be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas set forth in the following claims.

1. A device for monitoring structural health conditions of an object,comprising: a piezoelectric device including: a bottom cover plate; aplurality of piezoelectric rings concentrically disposed with respect toan axis and positioned on said bottom cover plate; a plurality ofconcentric filler rings made from an electrically insulating material,each of said piezoelectric rings being interposed between two adjacentones of said filler rings; electrical connection means for communicatingelectrical signals to said piezoelectric rings; and a top cover platepositioned over said piezoelectric rings and filler rings, said bottomand top cover plates being adapted to hold said piezoelectric rings andfiller rings in place, wherein said electrical connection means areoperative to transmit electrical signals that cause one or more of saidpiezoelectric rings to generate waves or transmit electrical signalsdeveloped by one or more of said piezoelectric rings in response to thewaves, wherein each of said piezoelectric rings has flat top and bottomsurfaces that are perpendicular to said axis and covered with conductiveflakes; and wherein each of said top and bottom cover plates includes aplurality of conductive rings concentrically disposed with respect tosaid axis, each said conductive ring being in contact with one of saidconductive flakes and being electrically insulated from the otherconductive rings.
 2. A device as recited in claim 1, wherein one or moreof said conductive rings are formed from a conductive epoxy, glass fiberor carbon fiber impregnated with a conductive epoxy.
 3. A device asrecited in claim 1, wherein one or more of said conductive rings includemetal rings attached to said top and bottom cover plates by use of aconductive epoxy.
 4. A device as recited in claim 1, wherein said fillerrings are made from glass-epoxy, carbon-epoxy, epoxy-resin, orpolyimide.
 5. A device as recited in claim 1, wherein said filler ringsare attached to said top and bottom cover plates by use of athermo-setting adhesive.
 6. A device as recited in claim 1, wherein eachof said top and bottom cover plates further includes one or morecovering layers and base layers stacked alternatively.
 7. A device asrecited in claim 6, wherein one or more of said conductive rings aregenerated by etching metal coating formed on one or more of said baselayers.
 8. A device as recited in claim 6, wherein said base layers andcovering layers are made from polyimide or polyester.
 9. A device asrecited in claim 6, wherein said covering layers and base layers areattached to each other by use of a thermo-setting adhesive.
 10. A deviceas recited in claim 6, wherein said electrical connection means includeone or more electrical nodes that are respectively positioned in saidcovering layers, each said electrical nodes being connected to one ormore of said conductive rings and connected to an electrical wire. 11.The device of claim 1, wherein the waves are Lamb waves.
 12. A device asrecited in claim 1, further comprising: a dielectric substrate; at leastone buffer layer attached to said substrate, said piezoelectric devicebeing positioned on and attached to said buffer layer; a molding layerdeposited over said piezoelectric device; an outer cover layer depositedover said molding layer; and a plurality of electrical wires coupled tosaid electrical connection means.
 13. A device as recited in claim 12,wherein said one buffer layer is comprised of polymer or metal.
 14. Adevice as recited in claim 12, wherein said molding layer is comprisedof epoxy, polyimide, or silicon-polyimide and wherein said cover layeris comprised of metal.
 15. A device as recited in claim 12, furthercomprising a protective layer deposited over said outer cover layer andcomprised of epoxy or polyimide.
 16. A device as recited in claim 12,further comprising: a hoop layer attached to said substrate andcomprised of a dielectric insulating material, said hoop layersurrounding said buffer layer.
 17. A device as recited in claim 12,further comprising; an optical fiber coil attached to said substrate andlocated around the periphery of said piezoelectric device, said opticalfiber coil including: a rolled optical fiber cable; and a coating layerapplied to said rolled optical fiber cable, wherein a preset tensionalforce is applied during a rolling process of said optical fiber cableand said coating layer sustains tensional stress of said rolled opticalfiber cable.
 18. The device of claim 17, wherein said coating layer iscomprised of a material selected from the group consisting of metal,polymer, zinc oxide, silicon oxide, and tantalum oxide.
 19. A device asrecited in claim 1, further comprising: a bottom substrate; a bottombuffer layer comprising at least one sublayer, said piezoelectric devicebeing positioned on said bottom buffer layer; a top buffer layerpositioned on said piezoelectric device, said top buffer layercomprising at least one sublayer; a plurality of electrical wirescoupled to said electrical connection means; a hoop layer surroundingsaid piezoelectric device; and a top substrate positioned on said topbuffer layer, said hoop layer being attached to said top substrate andbottom substrate.
 20. A device as recited in claim 19, furthercomprising: an optical fiber coil sensor located around the periphery ofsaid piezoelectric device, attached to said bottom substrate, andpositioned between said piezoelectric device and said hoop layer, saidoptical fiber coil sensor including: a rolled optical fiber cable; and acoating layer applied to said rolled optical fiber cable, wherein apreset tensional force is applied during a rolling process of saidoptical fiber cable and said coating layer sustains tensional stress ofsaid rolled optical fiber cable.
 21. The device of claim 20, whereinsaid coating layer is comprised of a material selected from the groupconsisting of metal, polymer, zinc oxide, silicon oxide, and tantalumoxide.
 22. A device as recited in claim 1, wherein said piezoelectricdevice includes a hole formed along said axis, further comprising: aring-shaped support element having a channel along a circumferentialdirection and a notch along a radial direction thereof; saidpiezoelectric device attached to said support element and positionedwithin said channel along said circumferential direction; a plurality ofelectrical wires coupled to said electrical connection means, whereinsaid electrical wires pass through the notch; and a ring-shaped lid forcovering said channel.
 23. A device as recited in claim 22, furthercomprising: an optical fiber coil sensor attached to said supportelement and located around the periphery of said piezoelectric devicewithin said channel, said optical fiber coil sensor comprising: a rolledoptical fiber cable; and a coating layer applied to said rolled opticalfiber cable, wherein a preset tensional force is applied during arolling process of said optical fiber cable and said coating layersustains tensional stress of said rolled optical fiber cable, andwherein two ends of said optical fiber cable pass through said notch.24. The device of claim 23, wherein said coating layer is comprised of amaterial selected from the group consisting of metal, polymer, zincoxide, silicon oxide, and tantalum oxide.
 25. A device for monitoringstructural health conditions of an object, comprising: a piezoelectricdevice including: a plurality of filler rings concentrically disposedwith respect to an axis and formed from an electrically insulatingmaterial; a plurality of piezoelectric rings, each said ring beingconcentrically interposed between two adjacent ones of said filler ringsand having flat top and bottom surfaces that are perpendicular to saidaxis and covered with top and bottom conductive flakes, respectively; aplurality of top conductive rings concentrically disposed with respectto said axis, each said top conductive ring having a flat bottom surfacein contact with one of said top conductive flakes and being electricallyinsulated from the other top conductive rings; one or more top coveringlayers and top base layers alternatively stacked on said filler ringsand configured to cover at least one of said plurality of top conductiverings; top electrical connection means for communicating electricsignals to said top conductive rings; a plurality of bottom conductiverings concentrically disposed with respect to said axis, each saidbottom conductive ring having a flat top surface in contact with one ofsaid bottom conductive flakes and being electrically insulated from theother bottom conductive rings; one or more bottom covering layers andbottom base layers alternatively stacked beneath said filler rings andconfigured to cover at least one of said plurality of bottom conductiverings; and bottom electrical connection means for communicating electricsignals to said bottom conductive rings; wherein said top and bottomelectrical connection means are operative to transmit electrical signalsthat cause one or more of said piezoelectric rings to generate the wavesor transmit electrical signals developed by one or more of saidpiezoelectric rings in response to the waves.
 26. A device as recited inclaim 25, wherein said top electrical connection means includes a topelectrical node that is positioned in one of said top covering layersand is connected to said top conductive rings, said bottom electricalconnection means includes a bottom electrical node that is positioned inone of said bottom covering layers and is connected to said bottomconductive rings, and each of said top and bottom electrical nodes isconnected to an electrical wire.
 27. A device as recited in claim 25,wherein one or more of said top conductive rings are generated byetching a metal coating formed on one of said top base layers.
 28. Adevice as recited in claim 25, wherein one or more of said bottomconductive rings are generated by etching a metal coating formed on oneof said bottom base layers.
 29. A device as recited in claim 25, whereinsaid top electrical connection means includes a plurality of topelectrical nodes respectively connected to said top conductive rings,said bottom electrical connection means includes a plurality of bottomelectrical nodes respectively connected to said bottom conductive rings,and each of said top and bottom electrical nodes is connected to anelectrical wire.
 30. A device as recited in claim 29, wherein each ofsaid piezoelectric rings can generate the waves or develop theelectrical signals in response to the waves.
 31. A device as recited inclaim 29, wherein each of said top electrical nodes is formed in one ofsaid top covering layers and each of said bottom electrical nodes isformed in one of said bottom covering layers.